SATURDAY, JUNE 21

SATURDAY, JUNE 21:

     Woke to a beautiful morning!  Cool, fresh after last night’s fierce rain, and the sound of bird song everywhere!  We’re right across from a huge cornfield – how iconic Nebraska! – and where there’s corn, there’s insects, hence a multitude of birds. 

 

      The campground offers a buffet breakfast on weekend mornings for a very reasonable price, so we opted for that. Ate it outside on the patio, and afterwards, just walked around a while enjoying the fresh cool air.  On the spur of the moment, we decided to stay here an additional night.  One of the museums we thought might be worth a stop is here (Sturh Museum of the Prairie Pioneer), and the reviews indicated you could spend several hours there.  It was nearing 11:00 now, so decided that we’d just take our time at the museum, come back to a leisurely evening, and then drive the scenic highway thru the Sandhills tomorrow.   

     The museum was wonderful!  A living history museum depicting prairie life in the late 19^th  century.   Spent some time taking in the exhibits in the indoor building, then  strolled thru a lovely landscaped arbor

 to the re-created pioneer railroad town depicting what such a town would have looked like in 1894, where we spent most of the afternoon.  Several of the buildings (out of 60, only 2 were not original, albeit transported here from other places as the museum acquired them) had docents dressed in character to interpret for visitors. 

 

 

At the blacksmith shop, Bill discovered that the blacksmith went to the same blacksmithing school in Oklahoma that Bill attended way back in the 60’s!  So they spent quite a while swapping stories about their experiences there.  We’re always so impressed with the quality of small, relatively unknown museums and historical attractions like this . . . including the dedication of a small number of workers (volunteer and not) who work faithfully to ensure that pieces of our history are accessible to all.

     Much cooler today – only got up to 85.  Came back and heated up spaghetti for dinner.  Then took Pappy for a walk all around the campground.  Nice evening.